


no, you can't go back to constantinople

by aelisheva



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: (i'm not), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because I said so that's why, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jewish Five Hargreeves, five is sephardic, five was adopted in istanbul, mentions of period-typical anti-semitism and islamophobia, takes place during s1 ep6, who's ready to get SAD??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 06:04:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19126102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aelisheva/pseuds/aelisheva
Summary: Right after “accepting” The Handler’s deal to come back to the Commission, Five immediately steals a suitcase and tries to get back to his family.Instead, he’s warped back in time to meet members of his birth family escaping the Spanish Inquisition.





	no, you can't go back to constantinople

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [I have a name, goddamn it](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18094175) by [spikedpoppies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spikedpoppies/pseuds/spikedpoppies). 
  * Inspired by [Asset Acquisition](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18238004) by [madame_faust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/madame_faust/pseuds/madame_faust). 



> For the Summer Of Seven prompt "Even old New York was once New Amsterdam."
> 
>  
> 
> Please note that I am not a native Spanish speaker or a native Ladino speaker, so there will probably be a lot of grammatical errors, etc. here.

If there was anything Five hated, it was not being able to understand something. Why wouldn’t Reginald let him time travel if he was “already showing so much progress with his powers?” Why did Fate leave him stuck alone in the Apocalypse for decades? And right now he was thinking --

 

“Why are you two still here?” The question was directed to the man and the woman who were still standing across from him at the far end of this alleyway in medieval Spain (and asked to them in Spanish, of course).

 

It had all started after he’d snuck into the suitcase room in the Commission while the guard was on break. He was trying to figure out how to open a suitcase as quietly as possible so that he could get back to his siblings ---

 

When he landed right in the middle of the Spanish Inquisition. 

 

While he was there, and while the Commission was unaware of this, he figured he might as well do some good. He snuck inside a nearby holding cell and knocked out its guard (which did  _ not _ kill him, mind you), freeing the Muslim and Jewish prisoners inside. That way, they could all safely escape the country. Luckily, all of them had managed to flee their cells, dart into the streets, and find a boat to Italy or Turkey or wherever to hitch a ride on.

 

Well, all but two.

 

The pale Jewish couple, still hidden in the shadows, looked over to him and then kept mumbling to each other in Spanish.

 

Five stepped a little closer to them, palms open.“Quiero ayudar a vosotros,” he started again. _ I want to help you _ . “Yo sé muchos barcos aqu í para escapar a Italia o Turqu í a.”  _ I know of many boats near here to escape to Italy or Turkey. _ “Soy un amigo. Se llama --”

 

What  _ was _ his name? If he said it was  _ Five, _ they’d think he was even weirder. What did his birth mother name him again? “Se llama Fievel.” Close enough.

 

But that just set the two of them off even more. They both rushed into the light and --  _ oh _ . Standing right in front of him was a man with his same messy brown hair and sharp chin, and a brunette woman with warm -- almost motherly -- brown eyes.

 

The man started a shaky smile at him. “Se llama Fievel, tambien.”

 

The woman waved at him. “Se llama Leah...Por qué nos parecemos a sus padres? No tenemos niños.”  _ Why do we look like your parents? _

 

_ A more important question,  _ Five thought,  _ why am I starting to cry now? _

 

Five quickly brushed at his eyes. “Porque soy….porque soy su descendiente. Del futuro.” He held up his glowing blue suitcase to prove he was from the future. “Y yo sé que el barco blanco en esta ciudad es la una opción para inmigrar a Turqu í a. Les gusta Istanbul?” The couple just blinked at him. “No - no, no, es Constantinopla ahora.” The two of them nodding, now understanding.

 

_ It’s called Istanbul in the future? _ the older Fievel asked in Spanish.  _ Why did they change it? _

_ I can’t say, _ Five replied.  _ People just liked it better that way.  _ He tried to laugh, but it still came out as a sob.

 

Leah laughed, then pinched his cheek.  _ You’re so clever, little Fievel. Are your parents scholars, too? _

 

Five didn’t even try to hide his tears this time.  _ I don’t know. I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know them. As a kid I was adopted into a totally new family and all I know is -- _

 

Both of them crushed Five into a giant hug.  _ Was this what it felt like to be hugged by both parents at once?  _ It was nice. Reginald hardly even smiled at him growing up. Grace showered him with hugs and hair ruffles as a kid, but this was different. More real. 

 

It was probably the first real hug he’d gotten in years.

 

Something inside the suitcase made a noise and Five jolted up.  _ I need to go now,  _ he said.  _ I need to find my family back home. I’m so sorry I couldn’t stay longer. _

 

The older Fievel nodded. “Haberes buenos.”  _ Good luck. _ He gave Five one final hug.

 

“Ke vengas en ora buena,” Leah added, kissing him on the forehead.  _ May you arrive at the right time. _

 

Opening the suitcase again, Five smiled at them. _ I hope so, too, _ he said.

**Author's Note:**

> 1 comment = 1 hug for five
> 
>  
> 
> other notes:  
> -Sephardic Jews hail from Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Syria, etc. Many Spanish Jews like Five's family here (as well as Spanish Muslims) fled to Turkey during the Spanish Inquisition to escape torture and imprisonment.  
> -Ladino is a language made from mixing Spanish and Hebrew. It's like Yiddish but for Spanish-speaking Jews. "Haberes buenos" and "Ke vengas en ora buena" are Ladino expressions.  
> 


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